Nitrous oxide fluxes of a boreal abandoned pasture do not significantly differ from an adjacent natural bog despite distinct environmental conditions.

Land-use conversion of pristine boreal peatlands for agricultural purposes is an ongoing process and projected to become more intensive with rising population growth and increased demands for food production. However, agricultural use of peatlands affects the production and emission of nitrous oxide (NO), a very potent greenhouse gas currently gaining more attention in the global assessment of greenhouse gases. While the intensity of NO emissions depends on a range of environmental factors, including hydrological parameters, temperature and the availability of nitrogen in soils, key driving processes remain poorly understood.

Warming reduces the increase in NO emission under nitrogen fertilization in a boreal peatland.

Peatlands are known as NO sinks or low NO sources due to nitrogen (N) limitation. However, climate warming and N deposition can modulate this limitation, and little is known about the combinative effects of them on NO emission from boreal peatlands. In this study, experimental warming and N fertilization treatments were conducted at a boreal peatland in western Newfoundland, Canada.